Colorado Springs, Colo. -- In their final tournament against NCAA Division III competition this season, the Nebraska Wesleyan volleyball team won both matches on day one of the Pikes Peak Challenge in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday.

NWU rallied back to defeat UC-Santa Cruz 3-2 in the first match of the day, then 30 minutes later swept past Wisconsin-Superior 3-0 to complete the 2-0 day.

The 22nd-ranked Prairie Wolves remain undefeated against NCAA III competition with a 10-0 record heading into a big day on Sunday.  NWU will face two top 15 teams starting the day with No. 9 Christopher Newport, then taking on No. 11 Colorado College.

In the UC-Santa Cruz match, the first set was tied 16 different times with three lead changes before the Banana Slugs finally pulled out the 28-26 victory.  UC-Santa Cruz (10-3) also took the second set 25-22 and things looked down for the Prairie Wolves.

NWU then mounted its rally and fought back in set three.  With the scored tied at 23-23, Mackenzie Ashton got a service ace to give NWU a set point opportunity.  An error by the Prairie Wolves tied the match back up, but Alyssa Stanek followed with a kill and a UC-Santa Cruz hitting error gave NWU the 26-24 win in set three.

Set four also did not start well for the Prairie Wolves and they found themselves trailing 21-16.  Three straight points brought NWU back closer, then three consecutive kills by Stanek gave the Prairie Wolves a 23-22 lead.  Stanke and Malory Dahl teammed up for a block to give NWU set point and another Stanek kill sealed the set victory at 25-23 sending the match to a deciding fifth set.

NWU broke away from a 4-4 tie in the third set and never trailed again as they went on a 6-1 run to lead 10-5 and never look back.  Malory Dahl sealed the victory with a kill for the 15-10 victory.

Nebraska Wesleyan had three players in double figures in kills for the match.  Alysaa Stanek had a double-double of 19 kills and 10 blocks to lead NWU.  Katelyn Walsh and Malory Dahl each had 14 kills, while Alexa Rosenau added a double-double of 32 assists and 19 digs.

Forced to play their next match just 30 minutes later, Nebraska Wesleyan wanted to put Wisconsin-Superior away early.  The Prairie Wolves won in scores of 25-23, 25-9, 25-18 to improve to 13-3 overall.

Walsh led the Prairie Wolves with 12 kills and a .458 hitting percentage.  Stanek had nine kills and four blocks, while Dahl also provided nine kills.  Kelsey Bahe dished out 21 assists in the match.